ootsfandomcom-20200222-history
The Crayons of Time: Breaking Up is Hard to Do
}} Shojo tells of the breakup of the Order of the Scribble. Cast * Roy Greenhilt ◀ ▶ * Haley Starshine ◀ ▶ * Elan ◀ ▶ * Vaarsuvius ◀ ▶ * Mr. Scruffy ◀ ▶ * Celia ◀ ▶ * Lord Shojo (also as a child) ◀ ▶ * The Order of the Scribble ** Girard Draketooth ◀ ▶ ** Soon Kim (also as an old man) ◀ ▶ ** Lirian ◀ ▶ ** Dorukan ◀ ▶ ** Serini Toormuck ◀ * The Bearer of the Crimson Mantle * Ronjo * Sapphire Guardsman with Goatee * Sapphire Guardsman who Killed the Bearer of the Crimson Mantle * Four other members of the Sapphire Guard * Lirian's Treants * A Purple Worm * Three Goblins Transcript note: all dialog from Shojo prior to Page 3, Panel 3 is inset as a voiceover. Lord Shojo: The party agreed that the gates could not be allowed to fall into the hands of evil, but they disagreed on how best to defend them. Dorukan: Only most epic magic can defend the gates. Soon: Magic? Your magic can be dispelled or disrupted. Only the honor of a paladin is unbreakable. Girard: Honor, yeah, that and a silver piece will get you a hunk of cheese. Lord Shojo: With the death of Kraagor still weighing heavy on their hearts, the disagreements turned into arguments, the arguments turned into blame, and the blame turned into something ugly. Soon: You don't care if the gates fall, as long as you can research a new spell! Dorukan: And you don't care if your allies fall, as long as you can avenge your dead wife! Lord Shojo: Anger and resentment that had simmered through years of adventuring were suddenly unleashed. Words were said that could never be taken back. Spells were readied in anger, and blades drawn in self-defense. Lord Shojo: Only the lone voice of a halfling woman prevented bloodshed. Serini: STOP!! Lord Shojo: Knowing that the party would never travel again after what had been said, Serini devised a compromise that would allow the five adventurers to part ways while still protecting the five gates. Serini: Look, we all think we know how to best defend the gates, right? So let's split them up. There's five of us and five of them. We each take the one closest to our homeland. Serini: We retire, and build a stronghold to defend our chosen gate, however we see fit. Serini: And we agree, no interference in the other four gates. We'll set up some kind of monitoring divination to tell if someone else's gate is broken, but that's it. No spying, no "just checking in" visits, no nothing. Serini: We leave here today, and that's it. We're done with each other. Lord Shojo: They agreed, and swore an oath to that effect. And as far as we know, no two have ever laid eyes one[sic] each other since. Cut to Dorukan in the Redmountain Hills. Lord Shojo: Dorukan left for the Redmountain Hills, where he spent years warding his gate with the most powerful sigils he could imagine. Cut to Lirian in the Elven Lands. Lord Shojo: Lirian returned to the rift that she had first found with Soon. She enlisted the aid of the creatures of the forest in its defense. Cut to Girard in the Windy Canyon. Lord Shojo: Girard Draketooth hid his desert gate behind a series of cunning illusions, relying on the power of deception to protect his gate. Cut to Serini at the North Pole. Lord Shojo: Even though it had been her idea, Serini wasn't really the type for retiring. Serini: OK, set the purple worms down gently, we don't want a repeat of the Roc Incident. Lord Shojo: She decided that she would build a tomb for Kraagor, and fill it with the nastiest monsters in the world, to reflect his belief in the power of physical might. Cut to Soon in front of his paladins. Lord Shojo: And Soon, he believed more than anything in the power of honor, truth, and loyalty. He returned to Azure City and selected the noblest samurai to join him as his paladins. He named his fighting force the Sapphire Guard. Cut to members of the Sapphire Guard in battle with goblins. Lord Shojo: We know little else about the other four, as the oaths taken by each paladin prevent them from seeking out the other gates. But we do know that Soon sent his men and women on a crusade to wipe out all who would threaten the Azure City gate, no matter how far removed gegraphically.[sic] Lord Shojo: In the process, they purged all mention of the gates and the rifts from libraries. It was as if the events of the previous years had never happened. Cut to the throne room in the castle of Azure City. Lord Shojo: When I was but a boy, learning at my father's knee, an aged Soon came to him and transferred command of the Sapphire Guard. Lord Shojo: Soon said that it was crucial that the defense of the city and the defense of the gate be held in the same capable hands. Lord Shojo: He died shortly thereafter. Flash forward to the present time. The artwork changes back from crayon drawings to its normal style. Lord Shojo: And when my father passed on, the duty and all of the secrets passed on to me. Lord Shojo: For 47 years, I have commanded the Sapphire Guard. And when I die, my nephew Hinjo here will be Lord of the city. Lord Shojo: And now you know the Secret Lore of the Sapphire Guard. Roy is reading. Elan is playing with a yoyo. Vaarsuvius is trancing. beat Celia: Psssst! Flashback's over! Roy: Huh? Roy: Oh geez! Elan: Aren't we supposed to get a 2-panel warning? Haley: Zfq bq nzml?? Vaarsuvius: That is it, when this story arc is over, I shall be calling my agent. Trivia * The translation of Haley's line is: ** Panel 7, Page 3: Are we back?? * The title after the colon is the title of Neil Sedaka's #1 hit song from 1962, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do. Another later strip title references this same song, #766, "Breaking In is Hard to Do". * This is the final appearance of Serini Toormuck, the halfling who devised the scheme of dividing the Gates' defense, and on whose diary Xykon relies to find the locations of the Gates. She first appeared in #196, The Diary. * This is the only appearance of Ronjo, Shojo's father. * This is the only appearance of the Bearer of the Crimson Mantle in the web comic, though he makes another appearance in Start of Darkness. * This is the only appearance of Lirian's Treants, who guard her Gate, in the web comic. They make three more appearances in Start of Darkness. * This is the only appearance of the two Sapphire Guardsmen who appear on two pages: Sapphire Guardsman with Goatee, and Sapphire Guardsman who Killed the Bearer of the Crimson Mantle. * There is a typo in panel 4, page 1. Lord Shojo says "one" instead of "on". * There is a typo in panel 1, page 3. Lord Shojo says "it was if" instead of "it was as if", as well as 'gegraphically' rather than 'geographically'. * Panel 8 references "the Roc Incident", which from the context appears to be a sideways reference to Jurassic Park's opening scene where the crew completely underestimated the strength of the dinosaur and when the dinosaur attacked the laborer, the crew didn't act quickly enough to save the laborer. External Links * 277}} View the comic * 6254}} View the discussion thread Category:Order on Trial in Azure City